Friday, August 9, 2013

BUSINESS JOURNAL: Legislator says goal is to get water bond on 2014 ballot

By BEN VAN DER MEER - August 9, 2013, 3:00 a.m.

Assemblyman Mike Gatto, D-43 Los Angeles

Legislators are making cautious progress on crafting a state water
bond to go before voters next year, said an assemblyman who’s a member
of the working group.

“The goal is that it will be on there in 2014,” Assemblyman Mike Gatto,
D-Los Angeles, said on Thursday. Gatto is part of a team of legislators
from both parties hashing out the contents of the potential bond, which
was bumped from the ballot in 2010 and 2012 because of fears it
wouldn’t pass or would detract from other ballot measures.

Gatto said the caution his group is exhibiting reflects that. There’s
little debate about whether the state needs to do something relative to
water, he said. Gatto said he’s heard eye-opening statements of
agreement between representatives from different parts of the state and
therefore different perspectives on the issue.

“There’s more statewide scope on this,” he said. “But it’s still very difficult.”

One concern, he said, is being able to create a “Christmas tree” bond
with enough goodies under it to get broad-based support. An example
would be putting spending from the bond into categories where it’s
plainly obvious it could only be spent on projects in a particular
region as a way to get support from those regions. But those goodies may
also make the bond a target for those opposed to the spending.
From his perspective, Gatto says the bond either should be
straightforward about representing different regional interests, or
written to be obviously vital to the state as a whole.